


Nice to meet you

by noblet



Series: Yes I love- I mean I'd love to get to know you [1]
Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Drift Side Effects, Herc is very OOC I'm so sorry, M/M, Memory Loss, Newt loves him more than Hermann lets on, Post Movie, Sad, Sort of like a character death but not really
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-11
Updated: 2014-08-11
Packaged: 2018-02-12 17:07:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2117961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/noblet/pseuds/noblet
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Hermann Gottlieb." The thin man took his hand and shook it once, nothing more, nothing less. A clean, firm shake that was100% Hermann.</p><p>"Newt Geiszler." He kept his face blank, void of any sign of emotions, as he shook back. "It's nice to meet you, Doctor Gottlieb."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nice to meet you

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by a Tumblr text post I saw, which mentioned something about memory loss caused by the Drift.

It was only a few seconds after Raleigh and Mako were confirmed alive, after all the cheering and whooping, celebratory screams filling the air, when Newt realized the war hadn't ended yet, at least for him. Pulling away from a hug, Newt noticed that Hermann's face looked flushed and not quite in sync with reality. "Hermann?" Newt stepped back with both arms on Hermann's shoulders, hesitant to shake him. "Dude?" He waved a hand in front of him, the other firmly planted, grip tightening.

He looked back at Newt's face with an expression that said scared and confused. 

"Newton? What is happen-?" His words were slurred, and his eyebrows furrowed in frustration, eyes locked onto the colorful tattoos creeping on the skin.

His entire body suddenly went stiff, eyes rolling to the back of his head and Newt could hear a cane clattering onto the floor as the taller man collapsed in his arms. Newt gently eased him to the floor, heart racing despite how exhausted he was.

The next moments few are a total blur, like fast forwarding a tape.  Newt remembers Tendo seeing Hermann, and calling someone from Med Bay, watching his friend being carried away on a stretcher, and  chasing after the people taking him away. Tendo tried to hold him back, probably with a "hold on brother" and a yank of a tie, but he didn't listen. He was kicked out of the hospital room as soon as he ran in by a few doctors shaking their heads at him with pity.  He had to find out what was wrong with Hermann.

After a half hour of quickly pacing back in forth, his face lights up when a doctor beckons him towards the door, but does not invite him in the room. 

"What's up doc?" Newt half wheezes, half gasping for air since he went into a full on sprint to get there.

"I've got some bad news."

Newt straightens himself out, standing up like his spine were a metal rod instead of bone. "Give it to me." He saved the world. He drifted with a fucking Kaiju, for fucks sake. He could handle anything.

"Doctor Gottlieb seems to have suffered from quite a bit of memory loss due to the shock of The Drift. He seems to know who he is, but he isn't familiar with his surroundings. The word Shatterdome means nothing to him." She looks at him with sad eyes. Apparently this wasn't the worst thing to happen at Med Bay today.

Newt didn't remember when his eyes started watering, but his palm catches a few streaks before they can roll down his cheeks.

"Does this mean...?"

"There is a possibility he might not remember you, Doctor Geiszler."

"No...no that can't be..."

The doctor nods her head slowly. Sadly.

Newt pushes past her, slamming open the door. It hits the wall with a loud BANG, causing the three other doctors inside to snap their heads towards him.

Hermann is laying on a hospital bed, doing what seems to be a test, writing down the months backwards, drawing an assortment of shapes instructed by the text on the paper.

He's still scribbling away when Newt yells, just a notch down from a scream. "HERMANN!" He wants to see if she was right. Did Hermann really not recognize him?

He looks up from the sheet which he'd been looking at with such focus similar to the way he looked when writing out formulas on his chalkboard. His face is completely blank, looking at Newt with no signs of recognition. He turns to a doctor on his left. "Excuse me, who is this man?" He questions.

"That is Mr. Ge-"

Newt is halfway down the hall before he can finish.

=====

He bites his knuckle as he walks, no, runs, back to his quarters. Looking forward to slamming the heavy metal door shut, locking out the world like when he was a kid. This is some kind of sick joke. Herms was finally getting back at him for erasing equations and drawing a dinosaur on the board. An April Fools prank in August. 'Haha, good one Hermann', he whispers to nobody but himself. He must be hallucinating, see? This is the result of staying awake for 48 hours and drifting. Twice. He wants to laugh manically, but his throat feels so tight and he realizes he'd been holding back tears.

When he's in his room, he's on his bed, tablet in hands, desperately researching side effects of the Drift, trying to find if memory loss is one on the list. His hands are shaking hard. A few drops fall to the screen. He doesn't bother to wipe them off.

Much to his distress, he comes upon an article written when Drifting was still fairly new, when it was in demo. As he reads, his heart drops as memory loss is a confirmed side effect. He drops the tablet and buries his face into his pillow.

"No..." He clenches the side tightly, so tight he feels the circulation beginning to cut off in his fingers, but he doesn't care. He sobs loudly, praying to whatever god that existed that this wouldn't be true.

Half an hour later, his throat is scratchy from screaming into the softness of the pillow, his face soaked and pink. His only friend. His only friend didn't even know him anymore. Sure there were other people, Tendo, but most people gave him disgusted looks as he passed by, most of their negativity aimed at his tattoos, his squeaky voice, his ridiculous theories. He remembers when he was walking back from LOCCENT one time, and he passed by two ranger pilots, apparently Yamarashi had been the one responsible for killing their parents. Hermann was the one who found him crumpled on the floor that day, glasses cracked and an eye bruised, his ankle twisted in a sickening shape of defeat and probably would've made Newt vomit if he had been conscious at the time.  He was sure he saw that scene replay itself in the Drift, and hoped that Hermann knew how much his help meant to him.

Besides, nobody challenged his intellect in the way Hermann did, he kept him more alert and on point for the past seven years and was more ready to argue his theories than any other colleague he'd ever associated with. He was 50% the reason Newt was able to become the rockstar he is today.

He sits up in bed, and he knows his hair is messier than most can tolerate. He uses a blanket to wipe at his eyes, his cheeks, his chin. A heavy sigh escapes his lips.

He stands in front of the bathroom mirror, glasses set on the sink counter, splashing cold water on his face so it wouldn't look as red.

He's turning off the faucet when he hears a knock at his door. Three strong steady knocks. His heart leaps a millimeter, thinking that it's Hermann, standing at the doorway with a look of "this is what you get for being such an arsehole Newton", a Hermann that remembers his name. He's toweling off his face and opens the door as he slips his glasses on.

It's Herc. 

"Doctor Geiszler.

Newt sniffs a bit before saluting, something Hermann would do. "Marshall."

"I'd like to discuss the Doctor Gottlieb's future with us here, if that's okay with you."

"Uh I'm not really su-"

"Great!

Herc's already inside and has shut the door behind him.

"We need two scientists for the Victory Tour, dammit! Two! Not one and another who can't remember his own name!"

Newt jumps from the sudden change in volume.

Herc gives him the evil eye. "According to the doctors, his brain is still functioning right, and I'm hoping you'd catch him up on some of the big things that have happened. You know how his formulas work, yes? You can explain them to him until he catches on?"

Newt is grabbing for words. "Y-yes! We've spent hours argu-"

"Good!" Herc cuts him off. "I suggest you two get re-acquainted, then." 

Herc gives him yet another dirty look, as if to say 'this is all your fault' and in a way, it was. Oh God, he knew he never should've let Hermann Drift with him. He should've built better Pons.

Newt is met with a door being shut in his face before he can respond. He stands there for a few moments, feeling helpless. Reacquainted?

=====

He's walking slowly on purpose, eyes glued to the ground. He feels the metal creak beneath his feet and the halls are empty, everybody's out celebrating. Newt runs different scenarios in his head.

"Hello. I'm Newt. I've known you for 12 years, and it seems you have forgotten. I love you. We saved the world together, don't you remember?" He can imagine how badly his voice would shake if he were to actually say that.

He shakes his head and stuffs his hands deep in his pockets.

When he gets to Med Bay, however many minutes later that may be, his head is spinning, and he desperately wants to sit down, maybe have a drink of water.

The same doctor, the one who opened the door before, is standing in the doorframe now. "Ah! Doctor Geiszler!" She yells. He walks over, his feet barely leaving the ground. "I think it's better if you don't try to explain the history between you two just yet. Remember, he doesn't know who you are, and he also doesn't seem to know anyone else. This is all quite a shock for him."

Newt nods as he slips by her, into the room. 

He's face to face with Hermann again, but this isn't the same Hermann. This is Hermann twelve years ago, he doesn't know who you are.

"Him again?" Hermann asks when he sees Newton. His tone is a halfway of confused and annoyed. The sound of his voice breaks Newt's heart.

Newt stood in front of the now closed door, nervously cracking his knuckles.  The sound of popping fills the awkward silence between them. He's glad the other doctors aren't there, glad that the lady doctor that he'd talked to, Alex Jenner, he thought her name was, made them leave the room once he came in.

He wants to cry, but he knows he can't, not here, not now.

"Could you stand up man?" He breaks the silence.

"Why?"

"Just do it! Please." His voice threatens to crack. Oh God. Oh no no no. He can't have another terrible first impression. He couldn't afford it.

Hermann gives him a look, a look Newt knew was reserved just for him, although Hermann himself didn't know, but slowly crawls out of bed despite the judgement, the mattress creaking as the weight shifts on the bed despite how light he is.

Newton held out his open hand. He hated it. He hated everything that was happening to him that moment.  He was probably going to go blind judging by the amount of red shit in his eye, his only interest in life was wiped off the face of the Earth, his best friend saw him as a total stranger.  Having to pretend everything was alright when there was a tornado whirling inside of him, threatening to make him snap at any point, like a bomb, ticking away and no one knew when it would explode.  The way he smiled through sad teeth as he shook Hermann's hand, for what was supposed to be the first time was almost sinful.  Newt thought of all the memories they'd made together, late nights in the lab, having to crash in each others dorms because it was too late to walk back, and how he'd wiped that slate clean as the mathematician introduced himself. "Hermann Gottlieb." The thin man took his hand and shook it once, nothing more, nothing less. A clean, firm shake. 100% Hermann.

"Newt Geiszler." He kept his face blank, void of any sign of emotions, as he shook back. "It's nice to meet you, Doctor Gottlieb."

**Author's Note:**

> Don't forget to leave kudos!
> 
> (Also, I've never attempted writing anything sad before, so please don't hate me.)


End file.
